Note from Mom- When there is a holiday on Monday, they will be writing a day later, since the place they go to e-mail is closed.
Tuesday September 7th, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
There is so much for me to write. I don't think I will be able to keep up. So much has happened to me.
I am being fed like crazy. We have had lunch and dinner outside of the house for the past week and a half. Anytime we haven't, we always have food from members, or investigators. We have one investigator named James, who is living with his girlfriend, who has had food for us the last three to four days. I can't eat this much food. I had three meals other than breakfast. And they are haitian meals, which means that they will give us a ton. We had patrick, a recient 21 year old convert, come out on exchanges with us yesterday, and he was telling us about a technique some of the other elders he has gone out with would do. They would keep a trash bag with them and when the people left the room or weren't looking, they would gradually spoon it into the bag throughout the visit, because they would get food at 4-5 different houses a day. And this is pretty common. People love making food for the missionaries in this mission. I don't want to do that because I like actually eating the food that people gave me to be kind. Elder Bolz went into the bathroom and said that he felt like he was going to throw up. I won't starve at all for the next two years. We had another member who bought us groceries even though we said not too. And she brought us Pizza when she was doing a member present lesson to have us teach her brother. Her name is Fontana, and her brother's name is Louis. She was an investigator when she was 15 and she became inactive. She always had a testimony, but she let herself fall away. She said that she wanted to be active again. She is very active now and is doing all she can to bring the gospel to her family too.
She is 27 and she is living with her dad right now. She just moved here last week, and she is staying until she can leave. She wants to go to Utah. Her dad does not like organized religion at all, and he got mad at her after we left her house last week from teaching her other brother Junior. She wanted us to start meeting at the church with her and her Brother. We are teaching her Brother Louis right now. I don't feel as bad about meeting at the church to teach Louis since he is already 18. It is going behind someones back, but they are of age and it is their decision. She didn't lie to her dad, she says she would perfer not to tell him. I didn't feel good about the Idea when I heard it. I would have definitely said no if it were Junior we were teaching since he is only 13 years old. Fontana is cool. She has a son named Ethan who has Aspergers, and so does her brother Junior. They are both very socially distant. It was crazy that I met her and that her son and brother both have aspergers just like me. She was very suprised that I did when I told her. I told her about all of the symptoms that I have and all that I have overcome. Junior didn't learn to speak until he was five. I didn't learn how to speak until I was 4. plus, her son Ethan hides his face from people, as does Junior. They are not very responsive always to people who talk to them. Junior does, but it is very delayed. Junior also is very smart in some areas. He could do puzzles when he was 2 that 6-7 year olds would usually do. He is extremely smart.
We had a lesson with Louis and showed him the Restoration DVD. He told us about how he was searching for the truth and that he has visited countless churches to find it. There are so many different religions with different teachings about God, and he wanted to know which one was true. He really liked the DVD, and how Joseph asked God for an answer and received it. We gave him a Book of Mormon to read and told him about how it was a second witness of christ, and was a record of an ancient people, just as was the bible. The next day he came to church and said how he had read the first chapter and prayed. He liked church a lot.
We are preparing Moisena's nephew, Peter, to be baptized this week.
There are several people who want to get baptized, but have problems that are preventing them from doing so. Mirana is an illegal immigrant from Haiti who came here from a boat and is working every day except for monday. She can't get work off on Sunday, and she will probably not be able to get any other Job, since she is illegal. She gets paid horribly. She is living with a member family named the Pierre's. She is sending money to her Children in Haiti. She can't make it to church on Sunday.
There are many Haitians who are suffering. Haiti is a horrible place to be right now. Even though many of them can't get Jobs in America, they say that it is better than the life that they lived there. The earthquake has left it desolate. We have one investigator who said that she had many friends who lost their limbs during the earth quake from things that fell on them. She has one friend who has no arms or legs and lays at home and wants to kill himself.
However, the Haitian people have so much faith. They have a very beautiful culture. I know so many Haitians who have had revelation. Most of the Haitian ward members have. Sister Pierre said she saw her brother visit her from the spirit world. Sister Denis said that she saw a bunch of women in white and had a revelation that she would bring many Haitian women into the gospel. Mama Julien has people visit her in her dreams on a regular basis and tell her that she needs to do their temple ordiances for them. They give her the information she needs such as their birthdates, wife's name, etc. Mirana, one of our investigators, had a vision that told her that the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. We had a member present lesson this week where two members, Brother and Sister Michelle, came to teach a man, Mr. Manase. He said he knew that we would come because he had a dream about Brother and Sister Michelle coming to teaching with other people. He said that he couldn't recognize them, but that they were probably us. The Haitian people are very religious, faithful, loving, and visionary. They are amazing!
I have had some extremely frustrating experiences too. Haitians talk so much! There are some that it is almost impossible to teach them because we say one thing about God and then they agree with us on the principle we just taught, and then they talk about their take on it for a whole 40 minutes. There are also many who refuse to read the Book of Mormon and quote revelations where it says you can't add or take away from the Bible. There are also those who think that all the churches are true, because they all teach about Jesus Christ. They say that we just need to choose one. There are others who don't think we need church, authority from God, or Prophets at all. They just say we need the Bible and our personal relationship with God. That is true, but we also need authority to baptize, prophets to guide us, and additional revelation to help us throught changing times. Some people just don't understand, and it is so frustrating.
Religion is huge amongst Haitians, and amongst the people of Fort Lauderdale. There are so many different churches and so much confusion. There are so many people down here lost in spiritual darkness and doubt. It is so hard to see it. There are people who said that they are trying to get a better relationship with God, but they refuse do what we ask them to. They don't want to read the book of mormon and see if it is true scripture or not.
But we are still doing very well. We are having much success. Bye!
Love,
Elder Seamons
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